Boogers, burps and other bodily treasures

Monday

Jul 23, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 23, 2007 at 10:22 PM

Long after parents leave behind the need to monitor intake and output, children begin to develop their own fascination with their body. Unlike their parents, however, children couldn’t care less about bodily products as signs of health; they discover that the body has great entertainment value.

By Lee H. McKenzie and Michael D. McKenzie

Do you remember what it was like in the early days of your children’s lives?

They couldn’t talk, so you had to rely on other forms of information to make sure they were OK. You probably kept track of every feeding, patted their backs until they produced a juicy burp, counted poops and wet diapers and worried when their noses were stuffy.

Until children could tell you what was going on with them, monitoring what went into their bodies and what came out was an important way you could gauge their health. That was all well and good in those early days, but after awhile, enough was probably enough. As your parenting confidence grew, you no longer needed to hear the burps to know your children were doing well.

Long after parents leave behind the need to monitor intake and output, children begin to develop a fascination with their body. Unlike their parents, however, children couldn’t care less about bodily products as signs of health; they discover that the body has great entertainment value. At the same time that parents are trying to teach children when and where it is appropriate to exhibit certain behaviors, children are becoming more and more fascinated with what they can produce whenever they feel like it. The same parents who thought every infant burp was reassuring are begging their kids to STOP making their bodily productions public.

We thought we would have a bit of fun this month by asking children what they do in public that has their parents telling them to stop. As you might imagine, the kids came up with lots of examples! They were proud to tell us what they could accomplish with their bodies, but they were clear that there were different purposes for different bodily actions.

Skillful Productions

When we asked about burping, 9-year-old Jacob beamed with pride. He announced that he could talk in burps, then proceeded to recite the alphabet by burping it out. He laughed out loud when he was done; he knew that we were impressed. His mom just rolled her eyes! Burping contests are a fairly common "sport" among school-age boys. Some girls can do it, too, but they don’t generally share the same level of fascination that is more typical of boys.

In this country, most parents tend to teach their children to excuse themselves when they burp in public, but in some countries, burping after a meal is considered to be a compliment to the chef. When children burp voluntarily, it is generally intended as a way of showing off, not necessarily to offend others. There is just something about being able to bring up a loud one whenever you want.

The Intentional Gross-Out

While we were discussing burping with Jacob, he admitted that he will occasionally sneak up on his sister and burp in her ear to tease her, thereby confirming that burps have multiple purposes. His sister, Samantha, admitted that she tries to get him back, too. We imagine that chasing is involved in their house. When they were telling us of the body pranks they play on each other and with friends, they exhibited much delight in their abilities and their imagination.

While it will come as no surprise to parents of young children, another potential display of body products is nose picking. It is rare to find a child who does not, at one time or another, pick their nose. It is very common with toddlers, whose mission in life is to explore. Fingers in noses are a great way to explore. While boogers do not have the auditory effect of burps, they are visually appealing, or appalling, depending on who is showing them to whom.

Speaking of fingers in body orifices, have you heard of the “wet willies”? Again, this tends to be more of a male tactic, where the boy will put his finger in his mouth, get it really wet with saliva, then try to put it in someone else’s ear. OK, so it’s GROSS! There is also licking the hand, then putting it over someone else’s face. Girls and boys admit to that one. In our day, this was a common game in the school yard. In today’s political climate of zero-tolerance for touching at school, this game would surely be unacceptable. But then, it was always unacceptable to the child being chased.

Dinner Table Pranks

One pair of brothers, ages 9 and 5, reminded us of an old joke that still shows up at the dinner table of many families. The older brother often asks his family if they like seafood. When they say they do … well, you know what is coming. He will open his mouth to display the chewed food for all to see. Comedians call this a sight gag; it is one that has been around for generations.

From Generation to Generation

There were lots more examples of what kids do with the treasures of their bodies. These antics, while considered inappropriate or even rude by some adults, remind us that children develop a sense of ownership and pride in their bodies and what those bodies are capable of producing. As parents, we are constantly balancing the competing demands of encouraging children’s imaginations with the need for socializing them into a world of manners and social norms. We might try to limit their behavior, but the various body sight-gags and gross-outs often remind us of when we were young and those memories make us smile. Our children constantly let us relive aspects of our childhood, the good, the bad and the gross. So, in a sense, we pass the baton of body jokes and pranks from our childhood on to our kids. But always remember, if they try to pass the baton back, check it first to see what is on it!

Lee H. McKenzie, RN, MSN, MA and Michael D. McKenzie, MD, FAAP are the co-founders of Family Rhythms Inc., of Natick, a business dedicated to fostering harmony in family life. They are experts in child development, parenting and family life and are the parents of two children. Michael is also a practicing pediatrician in Natick. They can be reached at 774-290-1012 or by visiting www.familyrhythms.net.

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